Xavier's torrid shooting holds off St. Joseph's

Feb 10, 2008 - 9:49 PM
CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Xavier took over sole possession of
first place in the Atlantic 10 after a surprising loss by St.
Joseph's earlier this week. The Musketeers made sure they held
on to it on Sunday.

Stanley Burrell scored 16 points and Josh Duncan added 13 as
14th-ranked Xavier recorded a 76-72 victory over the Hawks.

Xavier (20-4, 8-1 A-10), which has won six straight and 12 of
its last 13 games, was sharing the top spot in the conference
with St. Joseph's (15-7, 6-3) until the Hawks lost to Duquesne
on Wednesday.

However, it wasn't until late the Musketeers could put away the
Hawks.

"Today was one of our best wins," Xavier coach Sean Miller said.
"There were so many different times in the second half when we
could have just folded against a very good Saint Joseph's team.
But we just didn't. ... Down the stretch today, those three
guys (Burrell, Duncan and Lavender) turned it up a notch. They
did a great job in finding a way to win."

St. Joseph's used a 6-0 run to take a 68-65 lead with 4:56
remaining, but was unable to hold off hot-shooting Xavier, which
took the lead for good with 46 seconds left on B.J. Raymond's
3-pointer.

Xavier missed just one field goal and hit all six of its free
throws over the last four minutes of the game, turning its
three-point deficit around with a game-ending 11-4 run.

The Musketeers shot 57 percent (26-for-46) from the field,
including 60 percent (12-for-20) from the arc, to further
improve on its conference-best 48 percent field goal shooting
entering the contest.

Drew Lavender added 12 points for Xavier, which has won at least
20 games for the third consecutive season. It was a spirited
effort as the Musketeers wore vintage uniforms from the 1958 NIT
Championship team.

Behind 57 percent (16-for-28) shooting in over the first 20
minutes, the Musketeers took a 41-32 lead into intermission.
However, the Hawks stormed out quickly to take the lead early in
the second half.

St. Joseph's hit eight of its first 11 shots after the break
while going on a 19-5 run to established a 53-46 lead with 12:59
remaining.

The teams exchanged scores over the next four-plus minutes until
Xavier embarked on a 12-2 run, capped off by Burrell's
3-pointer that gave it a 65-62 advantage with 6:15 left in the
contest.

"Every game, he (Burrell) makes a shot against us," Hawks coach
Phil Martelli said. "When does he graduate? I want to be here
to make sure he graduates."

Rob Ferguson scored 18 points and Pat Calathes added 16 for St.
Joseph's, which has dropped two straight after a six-game
winning streak.